Huskies’ Andru Pulu sentenced to jail, work release for assault at party

Originally published May 7, 2010 at 8:19 pm

Updated May 8, 2010 at 12:16 am

Andru Pulu, seen here on the day in 2009 when he signed his letter of intent to play at the University of Washington, was sentenced to three months in jail for breaking a man’s nose during a fight at a party. Pulu has been suspended indefinitely from the Huskies football team since March of this year.

Washington football player Andru Pulu was sentenced Friday to six months in jail for breaking a man's nose during an off-campus fight in March.

University of Washington football player Andru Pulu was sentenced Friday to six months in jail for breaking a man’s nose during an off-campus fight in March.

Pulu, 18, punched and stomped a man who tried to break up a fight between the football player and another man early in the morning of March 7 during a house party just north of the UW campus. The victim was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose, requiring treatment at UW Medical Center, according to a police report.

Pulu, who was indefinitely suspended by UW coach Steve Sarkisian on March 9, pleaded guilty to felony second-degree assault late last month.

“I brought shame upon myself and my family,” Pulu said in court Friday afternoon. “I’m willing to take responsibility for everything I’ve done.”

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Deputy Prosecutor Tomas Gahan and Pulu’s attorney had agreed on a joint recommendation of three months in jail or in work release.

But King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey said he didn’t believe the sentence was long enough.

“This community needs to penalize you for this act,” Heavey said. “I do think this was a one-time thing; I do think it was fueled by alcohol.”

The judge said Pulu could serve the six-month sentence in work release.

Under work release, he will spend the night in jail, but will be allowed to leave during the day to work.

John Cunningham, the victim’s father, also said the sentence agreed upon by prosecutors and Pulu’s lawyer wasn’t severe enough.

“What he did was a violent act. You could see his shoe print on my son’s head,” Cunningham said.

A graduate of Federal Way High School, Pulu played in 11 games as a true freshman last season as a backup defensive end and on special teams. He was expected to contend for a starting job in 2010, before his arrest.

According to court charging papers, the 22-year-old victim told police he was at a party and saw a man arguing with another person just after 12:30 a.m. March 7. He tried to break up the fight.

According to two witnesses, the man struck him on the face, knocked him to the ground and stomped on his right temple, the police report says.

The assailant was later identified as Pulu.

Seattle Times news researcher Gene Balk contributed to this report, which includes information from Times archives.